Git Branch Cleanup

Git Branch Cleanup

Overview

Find and delete local branches that have been fully merged into one of the protected branches, then are safe to remove. Protected names — main, master, dev, develop, development, stg, stage, staging, root — and the current branch are always kept.

Announce at start: "I'm using the git-branch-cleanup skill to delete local branches already merged into a protected branch."

Protected Branches

The following branch names are never deleted, regardless of merge status:

main, master, dev, develop, development, stg, stage, staging, root

The current branch is also never deleted.

Workflow

Step 1: Inventory

git fetch --prune 2>/dev/null || true   # informational; keeps refs honest, don't error if offline

current=$(git branch --show-current)
[ -n "$current" ] || { echo "Detached HEAD; checkout a branch first." >&2; exit 1; }

protected=(main master dev develop development stg stage staging root)

# All local branch names
all=$(git for-each-ref --format='%(refname:short)' refs/heads/)

Step 2: Find which protected branches actually exist locally

Only protected branches that exist locally can serve as merge anchors:

anchors=()
for p in "${protected[@]}"; do
  git rev-parse --verify "$p" >/dev/null 2>&1 && anchors+=("$p")
done

if [ "${#anchors[@]}" -eq 0 ]; then
  echo "No protected branches (main/master/dev/develop/development/stg/stage/staging/root) found locally; nothing to anchor against." >&2
  exit 1
fi

Step 3: Identify candidates

A branch is a candidate when all of:

1. It is not in the protected list
2. It is not the current branch
3. Its tip is reachable from at least one anchor (i.e. fully merged into it)

candidates=()
for b in $all; do
  # skip protected
  case " ${protected[*]} " in *" $b "*) continue ;; esac
  # skip current
  [ "$b" = "$current" ] && continue
  # merged into any anchor?
  for a in "${anchors[@]}"; do
    if git merge-base --is-ancestor "$b" "$a"; then
      candidates+=("$b|$a")   # remember which anchor proved it
      break
    fi
  done
done

Each entry stores branch|anchor so the plan can show why each candidate is being deleted.

Step 4: Show the plan and confirm

Plan: delete N merged local branches

  feature/oauth-login        (merged into main)
  bugfix/null-response       (merged into main)
  chore/update-deps          (merged into develop)

Kept (protected or current):
  main, develop, stage  ← protected
  feature/in-progress  ← current branch

Proceed? (y/N)

If candidates is empty → tell the user "Nothing to clean up; no merged non-protected branches found." and stop.

Wait for explicit confirmation. Default is no.

Step 5: Delete with -d (safe)

for entry in "${candidates[@]}"; do
  branch="${entry%%|*}"
  if git branch -d "$branch"; then
    echo "✓ deleted $branch"
  else
    echo "✗ refused $branch — left intact (run \`git branch -d $branch\` manually if you're sure)"
  fi
done

Never use -D (force). If -d refuses for a candidate that we thought was merged, something is off — report and skip; don't escalate.

Step 6: Summary

git branch                # show what remains
echo "Done. Deleted M of N candidates."

If any candidates were skipped, list them and explain that -d refused (likely the branch has commits not actually reachable from the anchor — e.g. a --no-commit cherry-pick or rewritten history).

Worked Example

User: 머지된 브랜치 다 정리해줘

current = main
anchors found locally: main, develop

Local branches:
  main                       ← protected, kept
  develop                    ← protected, kept
  feature/oauth-login        → ancestor of main? yes → candidate
  bugfix/null-response       → ancestor of main? yes → candidate
  feature/wip-experiment     → ancestor of any anchor? no → kept (not yet merged)
  hotfix/typo                → ancestor of develop? yes → candidate

Plan: delete 3 (feature/oauth-login, bugfix/null-response, hotfix/typo)
User confirms.
→ git branch -d feature/oauth-login    ✓
→ git branch -d bugfix/null-response   ✓
→ git branch -d hotfix/typo            ✓
→ Show remaining branches: main, develop, feature/wip-experiment.

Red Flags

Never:

• Use git branch -D (force delete) — only -d (safe delete) is allowed here
• Delete any branch in the protected list (main, master, dev, develop, development, stg, stage, staging, root)
• Delete the current branch
• Delete remote branches (git push origin --delete ...) — this skill is local-only
• Skip the confirmation prompt
• Treat unmerged-but-stale branches as candidates — only fully-merged branches qualify

Always:

• Show the plan with the proving anchor for each candidate (so the user can spot-check)
• Show what was kept and why
• Use git merge-base --is-ancestor to verify merge status (not git branch --merged, which only checks against HEAD)
• Default the confirmation to "no"

Common Mistakes

Using git branch --merged instead of --is-ancestor

• Problem: --merged checks against the current branch only, not all protected anchors
• Fix: Loop through anchors with git merge-base --is-ancestor so a branch merged into develop (but not main) is still detected

Force-deleting when -d refuses

• Problem: Reaching for -D when the safety check correctly flags risk
• Fix: Skip the branch and report; let the user decide

Including the current branch as a candidate

• Problem: You can't delete the branch you're standing on; git will refuse anyway
• Fix: Filter the current branch out before building the candidate list

Integration

Pairs with:

• git-merge-to-main / git-merge-to-dev — those skills delete a single source branch right after merging; this skill cleans up everything that's already merged

Called by: Manual user invocation only. Never auto-run during another skill's workflow.